Stories

The Democrats in the Iowa House of Representatives have posted a map showing how the 2008 legislative elections look from the familiar “red vs. blue” perspective.

Rep. Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, told The Des Moines Register this morning that he has asked his party to consider ousting current House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, and has offered himself as a replacement.
Paulsen, who was first elected to the House in 2002 and currently serves as the minority whip, told the paper that [...]

The chronology of the election returns had it backward.

Early election results showed incumbent Democratic state Reps. Wes Whitead, Roger Wendt and Elesha Gayman losing their seats as the returns rolled in. A buzz of panic rippled through an Iowa City victory party: “Did we lose the House? Did we lose the House?”

But the three incumbents had won re-election (assuming Whitead holds his six-vote lead) before the polls even opened.

Not all Democrats enjoyed an Obama-esque margin of victory Tuesday night.
Democrats in the Iowa House say they picked up one seat Tuesday night, with two more races still being tabulated.  Some of them were real squeakers.

With control of the Iowa House hanging in the balance, candidates and interest groups from both sides of the aisle are waging a campaign that has turned decidedly negative.

The Iowa Independent broke the news today that former Agriprocessors CEO Sholom Rubashkin has been arrested by federal officials for allegedly conspiring to hire undocumented workers for financial gain.  Since Election Day is only days away, the story is likely to have a political impact.
So who’s the big winner from all of this?
My first instinct [...]

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy just issued “a stark warning” to Jefferson-Jackson dinner attendees.
Republicans, McCarthy said, are making the Iowa House their top priority.  “The Republicans have made no secret this election that one of their primary focuses 30 days from now is going to be to take back” the Iowa House, he said.
“We’re 53-47, [...]

Fundraising in nine Iowa House battleground districts suggests that GOP candidates might be in a stronger position than once thought, but the Democrats still have the upper hand, according to reports filed last month with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

There was never a doubt in Susan Radke’s mind that she would make a second bid as a Democrat in typically progressive Iowa House District 10. Only 680 votes out of more than 12,000 cast separated Radke and current Republican incumbent Dave Deyoe when they faced off for the open seat in 2006. But before [...]

Service to community is nothing new for Pat VanZante, Democratic candidate for Iowa House District 71. Throughout her life she has volunteered and worked for the betterment of both her immediate community and the state at large. Being elected to serve in the state legislature, she said, would be a way she could continue what [...]